


Meet Me Where I Am

by fuzzycatsandgoofyhats



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Festivals, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 14:24:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15997055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzzycatsandgoofyhats/pseuds/fuzzycatsandgoofyhats
Summary: Yuuri hadn't noticed it at first, mostly due to his primary focus being on the upcoming season and making up for his defeat at the Grand Prix Final last year, but he certainly noticed it now. Somehow, over the course of the summer, he'd fallen in love, not just with Victor as a skater, but as the person he'd come to know.





	Meet Me Where I Am

**Author's Note:**

> My gift for plasmoduck on tumblr for the Victuuri Summer Loving gift exchange! I really liked the prompts for a summer festival and one of them having a sudden realization, and decided to write about the moment Yuuri realized he was in love with Victor and trying to figure out the right way to tell him.
> 
> I had a lot of fun participating in this event! I'd also like to thank my friend on tumblr rise-of-the-zombicorns for beta-ing this for me!

_“When I open up, he meets me where I am.”_

For about the fifth time in the week since it happened, Yuuri found himself thinking back on the conversation he'd had with Victor on the beach. He hadn't expected to open up so easily about his insecurities and vulnerability to him like that, but he couldn't deny how close they'd grown since Victor had come to Japan and he supposed it was inevitable. In fact, since then he'd felt a little guilty about blowing Victor off all the times he'd offered to spend time with him outside of practice. Maybe he should make it up to him. Maybe...

“Hey, Victor?” he asked his coach later that evening, as they sat at the dinner table. He tried not to eye Victor's bowl of katsudon too enviously, focusing instead on his own plate of grilled chicken and vegetables.

“Yes, Yuuri?” he replied, looking up at him curiously.

“I was wondering...” he began, still not quite sure how to breach the subject, despite having rehearsed it several times in his head in his room earlier. “I know I've been avoiding you a lot lately, and I'm sorry about that—I guess I was just nervous about my free skate. But...there's a festival this weekend, and I was wondering if you'd want to go with me?”

Victor was quiet for a moment, finishing the bite of katsudon that he'd just put in his mouth before replying. “That sounds great! I've read some about Japanese festivals, and I've always wanted to go to one myself.”

“Well, I admit ours isn't very big or extravagant,” Yuuri said with a shrug, “but in Hasetsu we have one at the end of the summer every year, and it's always a lot of fun. And I'm sure there will be a lot of people there if they know you'll be there, if the crowd at Onsen on Ice was any indication...”

“Not to mention all the guests you've attracted here,” Mari chimed in, smirking at Victor as she passed by with some fresh bed sheets for one of the guest rooms. Victor chuckled modestly and turned his attention back to Yuuri.

~~~~~~

Paper lanterns flickered in the evening twilight, and the sound of chatter mingling with soft music filled the air. Yuuri smiled, noticing quickly that Victor's Japanese had improved quite a bit since he'd arrived in Hasetsu. He was still far from fluent, but he was able to easily hold conversations with people, and watching him chat excitedly with Moriko, the older woman who owned one of the shops near the onsen, about her corgi made Yuuri's heart flutter. Most things about Victor had that effect on him though, ever since he was twelve. And the feeling had only grown since getting to know the man himself over the course of several months.

This moment though, Yuuri realized, felt different. Spending the evening watching Victor look around, taking in the various sights and sounds of the festival with that radiant heart-shaped smile gave him a different, much more intense feeling than the fanboy crush he'd harbored for half his life. Yuuri hadn't noticed it at first, mostly due to his primary focus being on the upcoming season and making up for his defeat at the Grand Prix Final last year, but he certainly noticed it now. Somehow, over the course of the summer, he'd fallen in love, not just with Victor as the living legend plastered all over his bedroom walls (or, more accurately now, hidden away in a desk drawer for safekeeping), but with Victor as the person he'd come to know: Victor, who sang lullabies to Makkachin every night in Russian, who helped his mother with the dishes before watching a soccer game with his father on TV, who always offered to go buy Mari a pack of cigarettes when he noticed she was running low, and who had promised, no matter what, to meet Yuuri halfway whenever he needed him.

“Yuuri! Moriko-san wants a photo of us together for her granddaughter! And let's get some pictures of her dog playing with Makkachin!” Victor's cheerful voice broke him out of his reverie. He nodded and ran over to join them.

“Michi has absolutely fallen in love with Makkachin,” Moriko told Yuuri as he made his way over to her and Victor. “I think he reminds her a little of your Vicchan.” She gave him a smile, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. Moriko was a friend of his parents and her corgi had quickly become close friends with Vicchan back when Yuuri had first entered high school. Yuuri smiled back at her, silently mourning his lost friend for a moment before standing next to Victor as the old woman pointed her camera at them. “Keiko-chan will be so excited to see this; she's a big fan of both of you and she was beside herself when I told her that Victor was here in Hasetsu. _Babaachan_ , she said, _you have to get pictures!_ Such a skater fangirl, that one,” she chuckled as she snapped several pictures of Victor and Yuuri standing next to each other.

“Well, I've always been known for surprising my fans,” Victor said with a grin, before putting an arm around Yuuri's waist and pulling him closer. Yuuri's smile widened, though a noticeable blush spread across his cheeks as the next picture snapped.

After a few more pictures of the two of them together, and a handful of them with Makkachin and Michi, Moriko gave them a bright smile as she lifted the corgi into her arms. “Thank you again,” she said before reaching out to hug both of them and giving Yuuri an affectionate pat on the cheek. “Now you boys go and enjoy the rest of the festival, hmm?” She winked at Yuuri before walking away, though he wasn't sure if Victor noticed.

“She seems really sweet,” Victor said, walking with Yuuri in the other direction, with Makkachin eagerly following them. “It seems like you've known her for a while.”

“Since Mari and I were kids, actually,” Yuuri replied. “She's a friend of my parents so she's almost like family too.” He hummed softly as they walked among the other festival-goers and looked at the various stalls. They dropped the conversation in favor of trying out the games and snack booths, and before Yuuri knew it, that pleasant warm feeling was back. Seeing Victor so carefree and eager to experience a little of everything brought a smile to his face, but remembering his realization from earlier that evening brought a light pink tint to his cheeks as well. Which Victor was quick to point out.

“Yuuri, you're red,” he said, looking a little concerned. “Are you overheated? I've been so focused on everything I didn't even notice, I'm sorry, I--”

Yuuri shook his head. “It's okay, I'm fine,” he assured him. “I'm just glad to see you're having fun,” He looked over at a nearby drink cart. “Though taking a minute to sit down and rest does sound nice. I sort of...wanted to talk to you about something anyway.” He led Victor over to the cart, bought each of them a drink, plus a cup of water for Makkachin, and found a spot to sit down that wasn't as crowded. He sat the water cup on the ground for Makkachin and scratched him behind the ears.

“So Yuuri,” Victor said, taking a sip of his drink. “What did you want to talk about?”

Yuuri looked ahead for a moment, unable to meet Victor's gaze. “Well, it's just...I wanted to let you know I appreciate everything you've done for me. It really means a lot, and...” _And I think I might be falling in love with you,_ he finished in his head, but couldn't bring himself to say out loud. Somehow, he thought, even though he felt the need to say _something_ , it just didn't feel like the right time.

“And?” Victor prompted gently. “Yuuri, are you sure nothing's wrong?” The concern in his voice was clear, and it made Yuuri blush again as he finally looked him in the eye.

“No, nothing's wrong,” he insisted. “What I'm trying to say is...thank you, Victor. I promise I'll make you proud this season.”

Not tonight, he decided. The scene may have been perfect for a love confession straight out of a movie or one of the dozens of shoujo anime he'd binge watched with Yuuko when they were kids—a beautiful sunset just beginning its decent below the horizon, a gentle breeze blowing through their hair, the soft chirping of cicadas in the distance—but something in Yuuri's gut told him to wait. His heart skipped a beat as Victor smiled and took his hand in his own, and for a moment he felt as if maybe, even without saying it directly, he'd managed to get his true message across.

~~~~~~

“So, um...about that press conference earlier...” Yuuri hesitated, giving Victor a shy smile. “I guess I got a little excited...”

“I haven't seen you get that passionate since the Onsen on Ice competition,” Victor replied. “Even after all this time I'm still more accustomed to seeing the more reserved side of you.”

Yuuri blinked. “You...you seem awfully calm about the fact that I just confessed my love for you to all of Japan before even saying something to you first,” he said with an awkward chuckle.

“Oh, Yuuri, don't you remember?” Victor asked, reaching for Yuuri's hand and lacing their fingers together. “You told me already.”

 


End file.
